"I've said too much." I heard the faint hiccup of a stressful voice.

"Tell me!" My ear vibrated against the door at Archer's harsh tone.

"I've said too much," Roger quietly repeated.

I was itching to break the tension on the other side of the wall but curiosity dug into my shoulders and held me back.

I missed a few parts of the conversation and pressed my ear closer to the wood.

"Says the one with a secret stash of sandwiches in his underwear drawer," Archer said.

"I'm entitled to being lazy. I could roll into class as a bowling ball and take up three seats and still be allowed into Villain Academy." He paused and I left the door partly open, hearing in on Roger's next words. "Dear Hero, I have a secret. A very, very dark secret."

I swallowed hard and pressed my hand on the door, relaxing as it clicked shut.

Roger's voice had never been that...eerie. I could hear his words already crawling into my ears.

Rattled, I disappeared out of the dorm and released a breath I didn't know I was holding. I rested the back of my head on the wall and rotated my shoulders, coolly leaning on one leg behind me.

My fingers pulled a piece of gum from my pocket and I quickly popped it in, trying to chew away the burning itch to ask Roger about his secret.

The pink bubble popped in my face and I chewed again, slowly flexing my fingers.

Snap!

I shrugged off the wall at the familiar sound of Roger's backpack and watched him run over with his weird penguin hobble. He tightly clenched on his juice box as words tumbled out in short gasps.

I guess I wasn't the only one with hidden identities.

"Th...they're coming."

Fear cracked through my arrogant mask and I quickly fixed it up with something I could control: aggression.

I fisted his shirt and hissed, "What's with the new roommate?"

The juice box squirted under his tight grip and he gulped. "Archer just showed up this morning. What was I supposed to do? Slit his throat with a chocolate bar?" He furiously wiggled to get my hand off. "And do you think I had a good sleep when a killer was sleeping three feet away? He could've kept a mega ray gun under his pillow, ready to murder me in the night!"

"A ray gun wouldn't be able to get through all your fat."

"I'm not fat. There's just layers of fluffy skin. Like a cupcake. A twelve layered cupcake full of sweet icing and sugary treats, piled with rainbow sparkles and gumdrops."

Annoyed, I let go of his shirt. "We need to talk to the headmistress about this. He can't stay with you-especially if I'm not there," I quickly said.

"What are we talking about gang," a voice interrupted.

About to grab a fistful of someone else's shirt, I faced Archer and his two other heroes. My arm dropped, hands still clenched by my sides.

I glanced at the three pink lines down his neck-my claw marks. Yesterday's anger sparked again and he caught my flying fist and stared into my shaking knuckles that hovered an inch from his nose.

"You don't want to start another school fight, do you?" Archer asked with a raised brow. His eyes lifted from my gaze and drifted to my clean wrists. "You heal fast."

I yanked my wrists away, feeling the stares around us. I whipped my head to the side and students hurried off.

"Do you always scare children?" Archer said.

"It's built into a habit." His gaze wandered along the academy's brick walls, and I snapped my fingers, causing him to blink. "So how does this hero shenanigan thing work?"

"Keep it down, will you?" He leaned in further. "Go to your regular classes. Blend in."

"I need more than that. If I'm part of your 'school group', I need to know what the plan is."

He smirked and fixed his backpack, one strap smoothly hanging on one of his shoulders and the other half dangling off. "Blend, Vhalerie. You'll figure out the rest."

My gaze soaked into their casual rugged jeans and dark coloured shirts that nicely hugged their well firm torsos.

Blend, my inner beast echoed in a laugh.

My face must've said it all since Archer's scoff snapped me back to reality.

"A term you're not familiar with?" he asked.

I silently turned and Roger joined me by my side. Soon I was walking away, chewing harder on the gum. The abrupt sound of my bubble popping startled students and immediately they scattered at the hint of my presence.

"Blend my ass... I could take those heroes. Why am I listening to them? I don't listen to anyone..." The stream of mumbles leaked under my lips and Roger gently tugged at my cropped blouse.

"Vhalerie!"

"What?!" I snapped and a group of freshmeat jumped.

"This isn't our usual blend..." he said.

"Roger, we don't blend."

"Not like this."

Students leaned off of their lockers and whispers about the "new kids" rushed through the academy.

I spotted the dark shadows looming behind us and could feel Archer's smirk burning at the back of my head.

Soon the whispers started rolling into a ball of questions and while speeding downhill, it even collected me in the talk of the hall.

"I thought she didn't belong in a group."

"Isn't she supposed to be alone?"

"Who are those boys?"

"Not who, but what."

I slowed my pace enough for Archer to walk beside me. Feeling his strong presence at a close enough distance, I whispered, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Walking to class with you?"

I hurried my pace but they easily kept up with their long strides. "Don'tcha jerks have your own class to get to?"

"We do," one of Archer's friends said.

"With you," Archer finished and grinned, knowing he was wiggling under my skin.

I wanted nothing to do with these heroes.

I felt something wet in my hands and I looked down to find blood dripping off my palm. I retracted my claws and hissed, my nailbeds now gleaming in red.

Skin healed over the claw imprints and I fished for another gum inside my pocket, adding it to the pink gunk in my mouth. I scrubbed the blood off with the gum wrapper while chewing. This time the bubble pop was loud enough for the whole hall to hear.

Suddenly my thoughts got louder in my head and I scrubbed harder.

Vhalerie, you're losing against Archer.

And what are you good at? Winning.

Treat this like a game. Chess. You don't know Archer's plans; you don't know all the pieces on the board.

Know the rules. Know his next move.

Use your best strategy. Use your voice.

Once my class was in radar, I dropped the wrapper and relaxed my shoulders, clearing my head.

I heard heavy panting and stopped by the door.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked Roger.

"Why were you walking so fast," he wheezed with his hands on his knees.

I frowned. "I wasn't."

"You were practically a blur down the halls. What happened to normal human strides?"

Confused, I brushed off this notion and made it one step into the class before someone pulled me to the side of the hallway. "Take me somewhere where we can talk-like the library," Archer said.

"And skip class?" I asked with big eyes. "Couldn't hear anything sweeter."

I started walking off and then glimpsed down at my wrists. "You gonna let go?" He quickly dropped his hand and I grinned, leading him down the hall. The crowd parted for us to walk, the whispers still fresh from this morning.

Entering through tall wooden doors, we past snaked past shelves that reached the ceilings and around study groups.  Villains looked up and my glare bite back at their curious faces, noses disappearing into their books. 

I steered him to the farthest table; the four legged black oak with my initials engraved on the surface.

Unfortunately, a student was already slouching in my chair.  I walked over  and his gargoyle ears perked at the click of my heels. Once he saw me, a smile crawled across his mouth.

My laughter flowed through the library, heads turning at the soft tinker of humour. "It's really cute how ya think you can sit there," I told him.

"Glad you find me cute, Vhal," he said and flashed me a fangful grin.

I returned the smile and slapped one hand on the table, leaning forward. My two fingers crawled up his neck and his eyes fluttered back, my voice drizzling a luring sweetness. "Now move, muffin or I'm gonna have to cut out that adorable smile of yours." I swiped my nail across his bottom lip.

His Adam apple bobbed and he bolted out of the chair. I slid right into my spot, crossing my legs and felt the gum taste begin to decease.

I propped both feet on the black oak and asked Archer, "Wha'cha wanna spill now?" I asked.

He sat across from me while rubbing his wrists. He picked up a book that laid around and propped it up so it covered most of his face. "What do you want to know?"

"Your blending plan is absolutely terrible. Why did you pick me to unwillingly assist you?"

"Because you have drawn a particular interest to me."

I crossed my arms. "Ya don't know flying catshits about moi."

"I know everything about you"-he leaned in even closer-"cupcake."

I eyed him suspiciously and uncrossed my legs, my heel hitting the ground in a thump. "How would you know everything about me?"

"Origin wise? That's classified. Who you are as a cold-hearted person?" He dragged his thumb down my bottom lip, cherry gloss staining the pad of his finger.

I stared into his muddy brown eyes, the coldness sweeping over me with such a rush that I was forced to hold in a shiver. "You know a girl's personality and emotional feelings from what?" I grinned. "A girl's lip gloss?"

He lowered his voice. "You can learn anything from a girl's smile."

Mine dropped and I leaned back, crossing my arms again. "So ya think you know shit about me? Everyone does."

He laughed and slid away the book between us. "But everyone doesn't know about your origins. Say, I'm surprised you're not jumping over this opportunity with glee. To finally be a part of a group. Your hostile allure kind of limits you from making much friends."

I looked over to Roger who was flipping through the manga comics, chomping down a sandwich with his other hand.

"Come on, Vhalerie. You've been living the independent life for so long. Don't you want to be in a group for once? You're lonely. You don't have anyone."

"I have Roger."

"But you aren't Roger's sandwich," he said.

I slapped my hand down. "This isn't about Roger. This is about why you chose me. If you couldn't tell, hanging with me guarantees you the opposite of blending."

"What if you're looking at it wrong?" he said. "What if this type of attention is blending. Blending into the high school norm of the new kids; lucky attractive boys score a seat next to the academy's mystery girl. Don't tell me you can't feel the strange energy we give off compared to all the other villains."

"The energy of justice?" I snorted.

His gaze darkened. "Even if we played the blend-with-the-crowd game, it would be impossible. Villains can't help but be drawn to heroes-it's science. People will naturally turn their heads no matter how hard we try. So what better identity to wear if a mystery is sitting next to a mystery?"

"And why not Faith?"

"Because Faith cares about everyone. Unlike a cold, heartless, independent bitch like you who only cares about herself and Roger."

"Keep Roger out of this."

He put his elbows on the table, his breath fanning across my face. "Why? Why do you care so much about this kid?"

"I'm supposed to watch him. He is my responsibility."

"Do you ever wonder why you're looking after him?"

I quirked a brow. "Indulge me."

"You never leave each other's sight for less than a minute. You go, he goes. He goes, you go. Who is the dangerous one? Use that big brain of yours."

I wanted to lean away, not liking where this was going. "Stop." But it came out as a whisper, too quiet for the ear.

"C'mon. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet. What if you're not actually looking after him? What if he isn't your responsibility? What if he's supposed to be watching you?"

I filled my throat with a laugh to swallow back the uneasiness.

"Roger-Watch me? What can he do?"

"I'm not the person you should be asking," he said and motioned to the freshmeat sitting next to astack of comics.

Before I could argue Archer was already walking away.

"Where are ya going?" I called after him.

"Getting research," he answered.

"For what?"

"No questions," he said and disappeared in the shelves.

I mocked him with an exaggerated mouthing and tossed a thumb over my shoulder. "Gett'a load of Mister serious," I whispered to Roger.

He looked up from his comics, and his feared face struck my chest. For a moment I wondered if I had imagined his dark identity back at the dorms.

He wasn't the babysitter in this situation. I was supposed to watch him. "I have a bad feeling about the Hero, Vhal."

"Well if I don't help him he'll kill you and I can't have that. No harm can come to you-I promised."

He made a face and looked back at the shelves. "Just be careful."

"When am I ever, sweetie?" I smirked and his eyes rolled back into his comics.

Archer's theory wouldn't stop playing in my head and I quickly unwrapped a gum from my pocket, tossing it in my mouth and chewed until it became pink goop. I played with the sticky string, tugging and twirling it around my finger.

Archer and I have never verbally fought yet he was wearing my out with more questions. This game-he was still winning.

I needed to get out of this spot. I needed to make a play on the board.

I was too defenceless. I didn't know enough.

Power play. Physical play not an option-but I was known to have a silver tongue.

It was time he squirmed at the feeling of my fingers sneaking under his skin.

The queen was going to make her move.

Archer returned with books stacked past his head. "Those look like fun," I said and he dropped them on our table.

I plopped my chin on my opened palm "What'cha got there, cupcake?"

"It's none of your business," he sternly said. He sat down and added, "And stop calling me cupcake."

"Whatever you say, cutie," I replied and thumped both my feet up on the desk, rocking them a bit.

He started flipping through the book and I peeked over, reading it upside down. "Bedtime stories? Is your blanket not helping you sleep, sweetie? Say, what kind of supernatural are you?"

"That remains highly classified."

"Aw, come on," I cooed, trying to snip two fingers at his nose.

"Don't 'aw, me'," he shot.

"What are you? Part vampire? Gargoyle? Mummy?" I tapped my chin. "Now that I think of it, you always seemed dead to me."

He huffed a short laugh and burrowed back into the smelly, old papers.

"How 'bout part zombie? Dragon? Oh"-I snapped my fingers-"Werewolf? You know, I can see you as a dog. Begging."

"Dog jokes, really?" he asked dryly without leaving his eyes off the book. "And I'm not a werewolf."

"Really? But your nose is always up people's ass."

He gave me a side look to fuck off and I shrugged, playing with the string of gum in my mouth again.

"I'm human," he said. "A normal human."

Doubting him and automatically filing that as a lie, boredom took over in seconds. I nudged my foot against his leg under the table and he refused to acknowledge it. I poked my heel again. Nothing. Annoyed, I frowned and jabbed my heel harder.

"What in the name of justice do you want?!" he exclaimed. Everyone looked back at him in curiosity and he widened his eyes, realizing the words that just left his mouth. "I mean, what in bloody hell do you want?" he lowly hissed.

I stifled a laugh. "Name of justice? O-kay, Superman."

His teeth clenched and the librarian behind him was about to shush him until she saw me and scampered the other way. 

I batted my lashes at Archer. "What's wrong?"

He slammed his book shut and harshly ordered, "Can you shut up so I don't have to put a bullet through you?"

I laughed again and used two fingers to dance along the top of his book. "Whatever you say, muffin." I sang the last word with a smile.

He used the textbook to cover his face while I rested my feet on the table, snapping the gum in my mouth before asking, "Have ya ever had sex?"

His knee hit the desk and I laughed, lifting my finger off his thigh. He hid behind the book again and muffled, "That's none of your business."

"Aw, muffin." I pulled the book down a bit. "Lemme guess. You have enough experience to make you a monk."

He growled in frustration and pulled away, sitting straight.

"Oh my g-awd," I exclaimed and sandwiched his two cheeks with my hands. "You still have your V card! Don't worry, I'll tell you the tricks and the trade. I'll be your Yoda. A sex Yoda!" I gave him a serious look. "You will learn how to penetrate the force."

"Penetrate?" a new voice entered.

"Hey cutie," I said with a wink and eyed the other hero as I chewed the gum.

The young man gave a little wave and Archer rolled his eyes, burying himself back in his research. "That's Lance," he grumbled.

Recognizing the man whose ears I made bleed from yesterday's locker room event, I watched him rake a hand through his bleach white hair and spread a doofus grin on his face.

"You don't look scary," Lance said.

I playfully opened my mouth and clamped my teeth down; showing off my bite.

"She's hot," Lance said. He looked over at Archer. "Can we keep her?"

The Hero lifted his eyes off and stared down at Lance's hand resting on his shoulder. Lance quickly retracted his hand and motioned towards me-hesitant to actually point. "I like you. I'm going to keep you. Archer, I'm keeping her."

"Lance," Archer said.

"Yes?"

"Shut the fuck up and tell me the information you retrieved."

"Right." He turned the chair backwards and straddled it, resting his hands on the backrest. "The Villain Academy computer base is built into a complex system; it is encoded with unfamiliar keys so it might take me a few hours or days to acquire all the student and staff files."

"What do ya need those files for?" I said in the dullest voice I could muster.

Archer flipped over a page and distantly said, "We're looking for someone."

"Or more like something," Lance corrected and earned an elbow to the gut.

A thing?

My own monster whispered, A beast.

I felt another piece slid in the puzzle and leaned back, crossing my arms over my chest.

Count this queen one move closer to checkmate.

+++

A/N:

Ryan Kelley as Archer ;)

That's right-Deputy Parrish is playing Archer. Hot or what. (Only Teen Wolf fans get me <3)

And Dylan O'Brien as Lance (Teen Wolf Squad lmao)

Vhalerie does have that Harley Quinn twist because she was the inspiration of that character so some lingo will be similar---just letting you know if you're into the Harley fandom ;)  

Tell me what you think!

What do you think the heroes are looking for?

How was this dialogue in this chapter?

And please vote! Voting means the world to me :)

Xx8tracks